Inter High School Camp
by pika318
Summary: After the Winter Cup, a Inter High School Camp was organised for Seirin, Kaijou, Shuutoku, To-ou, Yosen and Rakuzan to attend. Other than for the basketball club members from each school to interact, it is also a plan for the GoM and Kuroko to patch up. With so much effort put in, failure is not accepted. Chapter 5: Curiosity
1. The Plan to Patch Up?

**pika318: **Hi! I'm back with a new one shot! You can consider this a sequel to Rise and Fall or Moving On. I had this idea where all six main schools from Kuroko no Basuke would have an inter-high camp. And it ended up being used as a way for the Teikou students to patch up after their disagreeable split in Rise and Fall. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoy reading this!

**Disclaimer: **Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi

* * *

**One Shot: **The Plan to Patch Up?

* * *

"Yeah, so that is how it is, Kuroko. You have to take the bus to the camp site by yourself. Sorry."

"I see." Kuroko replied in a neutral tone.

"There's only one bus stop there, so it's quite easy to find."

"I understand, Kagami-kun. Then I'll see you at the camp."

"Yeah." Kagami said, and then he cut off the call.

Kuroko put his phone back into his pocket and walked the last stretch of road that would lead him to the bus stop. When he arrived there though, he was surprised to see some familiar faces.

"Kise-kun." Kuroko called out, and the blond turned around, with a look of surprise on his face.

"Kuroko-cchi! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question myself. Our school was invited to attend an interschool camp, would the other school be Kaijo then?" Kuroko replied, asking another question of his own.

"I guess it would be, since you're here too. But are you alone? Where's the rest of your club?" Kise asked, as he looked around the area and saw no one else in the Seirin uniform.

"Apparently, I was told to report at 11am. But Kagami-kun called just now and said that he had given me the wrong time and it was supposed to be 10am. The others are already at the camp, so I was asked to go there by myself." Kuroko explained.

Kise looked puzzled, "That's what Kasamatsu-senpai told me too. And now that I think about it…" Kise turned behind him as he said this, and behind him, seated on the bench, was none other than Midorima.

"Didn't you say that your club mate, Takao or something, told you that too?" Kise asked, directing his question Midorima.

"Hmph. I knew he was unreliable, but this is really too much."

"You were also told the wrong time?" Kuroko asked.

"Yes. Now that you and Kise are here, it only makes things more suspicious. If this Inter High Camp involves the schools around Tokyo, that guy might just appear too." Midorima said, presenting his deductions.

"That guy?" Kise asked, looking slightly confused.

"Are you referring to…" Kuroko started to ask, when he was interrupted by a shout.

"Tetsu, Kise, what are you guys doing here?"

Turning towards the voice, the trio already at the bus stop see a familiar tanned person walking up to them.

"As I expected." Midorima said with a small sigh.

It wasn't long before Aomine reached the bus stop.

"Geh, so you're here too." Aomine said once he reached the bus stop and saw Midorima there, who he had failed to notice earlier since the green haired player had been blocked by Kise.

"You got a problem with that?" Midorima retorted, and before Aomine could start any argument, Kise quickly intervened.

"Aomine-cchi, was your school also invited to the Inter High Camp?"

"Yeah, don't tell me it was the same for you guys."

Kise and Kuroko nodded.

"Aomine-kun, were you also, perhaps, told the wrong time to meet up?" Kuroko asked.

At that question, it seemed to remind Aomine of something unpleasant, because the tanned player suddenly flared up.

"Yes! Damn that Satsuki! If she knew the right time, she could have just woke me up since we live near each other! No, she had to call me and tell me to get there on my own!"

"Erhm, Aomine-cchi, don't you think you're already relying too much on Momoi-cchi?" Kise asked gently.

"I think so too. Aomine-kun should be more independent." Kuroko agreed.

"Ugh!"

"Either way, there is something very suspicious going on here." Midorima said.

"Yes, what are the chances that all of us were given the wrong timing to the same camp that all our schools happened to be invited to, and for everyone else to get the right timing?"

"Very low, I would say. It's possible that all of us have been tricked."

"Yeah." Kise agreed. Then he realised something was strange. The voice he had just heard did not belong to Midorima, Aomine, or Kuroko.

He turned towards the voice, and the rest, realising the same thing, turned around too.

Only to come face to face with a familiar heterochromatic red head.

Their ex-captain.

"Akashi!" Midorima exclaimed, pointing a finger at said person.

"Akashi-kun." Kuroko greeted calmly. As for Kise and Aomine, they were simply too shocked to say anything, and seemed to have frozen on the spot.

"Ah, Tetsuya, it's nice to see you again. And Shintarou, it's rude to point at other people." Akashi replied. Midorima put down his finger immediately. Akashi continued to speak,

"Ryota, Daiki, both of you look like you have seen a ghost, have to been resting properly?"

"Uh, yeah." Kise answered.

"We were fine until you showed up suddenly." Aomine muttered under his breath, making sure that Akashi would not be able to hear it.

"What are you even doing here? Isn't Rakuzan in Kyoto?" Midorima asked bluntly.

"We, specifically the regulars, were invited to attend an Inter High Camp. The coach said that Shuutoku, Kaijo, To-ou, Yosen and Seirin were participating. I simply thought it was interesting, so I agreed."

"So Akashi-cchi was given the wrong time too?" Kise asked.

"Yes, it appears to be so."

"I can't believe you'll be stupid enough to fall for that trick." Midorima muttered as he pushed up his glasses. The rest just gaped at Midorima's boldness.

"If the coach was the one to tell you the time, would you doubt him?" Akashi asked, looking towards Midorima.

Midorima looked away, and didn't say anything in reply. It was obvious he had no rebuttal, but he absolutely refused to admit that.

A tense silence passed between them. No one dared to speak to break the silence, not daring to face either person's wrath.

It was then a bus pulled up at the bus stop.

Judging from the display on the bus, it was not the bus that would take them to the camp site. Once the doors opened, it revealed a tall figure, the missing person that would complete the picture, and reveal the objective of the whole setup.

"Ah, it's Murasakibara-kun." Kuroko pointed out.

"Now that I think about it, Akashi-cchi did metion Yosen earlier…" Kise commented.

Murasakibara, who was still munching on some snacks, spotted them as he got off the bus.

"Ara, everyone is here? Is this the right bus stop to go to the camp?" He asked in a relaxed drawl.

"Isn't it too late to ask that question after you gotten off the bus?" Midorima asked sarcastically.

"Huh, is it?" Murasakibara asked in reply.

"Yes, it's the right bus stop." Kuroko answered kindly.

"Ah, okay. Thanks, Kuro-chin." Murasakibara answered before looking around. "I thought I was going to get lost since Muro-chin asked me to go there by myself."

"Were you asked to be here by 10am?" Kise asked.

"Woah, that's right. I didn't know Kise-chin could be so smart." Murasakibara replied.

"Guh, that has nothing to do with intelligence, okay? It's just that all of us were asked to be here by 10am."

"Huh? Is that so?"

Midorima only sighed at how slow Murasakibara could be.

"Seeing that we're all gathered here, I can only conclude that someone wanted all of us to be here at this time." Akashi said, interrupting the conversation.

"What the hell is the point of doing all this?" Aomine asked, definitely displeased with the current situation.

"I have my suspicions." Akashi said, but he did not elaborate any further.

An uncomfortable silence fell upon the group. Honestly, it was suffocating. Kise, unable to take the atmosphere, walked up to the plate which contained the bus schedule, only to find out that the next bus arrives in one hour.

Kise turned back to the silent group. Kuroko had already taken out a book, as if he intended to use it as a shield against the silence. Murasakibara resumed eating his snacks, not sharing it like he used to do. Akashi had taken out a notebook of some sort, flipping through it. Midorima and Aomine seemed to be staring into space.

Kise sighed inwardly.

It was going to be one long hour.

* * *

"Is the plan really going to work?" Momoi asked, turning to the brown haired girl one year her senior.

"Of course! We told all of them to be there at the same time, and knowing the frequency of these buses, they'll definitely end up at the same bus stop together." Riko answered confidently.

Momoi and Riko were sitting in the dining room, together with all the other participants from the other schools, including their coaches. The doors to the dining room opened out to the entrance of the camp, and everyone had gathered there to wait for these last remaining members to arrive, wanting to know the results of their combined plan.

"I hope so. I really want them to patch up. They've been so awkward around each other, even after the Winter Cup…" Momoi replied.

"It'll be fine! Even Kagami pulled off his part of the plan perfectly!" Riko assured.

Hearing his name, Kagami spoke up, "I had to rehearse the whole thing, okay! Kuroko's going to kill me when he finds out he's been tricked."

"Nah, I don't think Kuroko is that sort of person." Kiyoshi commented cheerfully as he patted Kagami on the shoulder, as if to congratulate him for a job well done.

"I don't think it has been easy for any of us, Taiga. Murasakibara can be really perceptive sometimes too." Himuro said from another table. As if to prove his point, Takao was heard saying,

"Why did I have to be the one to call anyway?! Shin-chan is totally going to kill me! It would have been easier if Senpai did it!"

"You were the one who lost the bet. Suck it up." Miyaji said.

"Luckily for us, it was the coach who settled everything." Kotarou commented to Reo and Eikichi.

"Of course, if it had been anyone else, they would have died sooner or later." Reo replied happily.

"Oh! I think the bus is here!" Riko said excitedly. Momoi ran to the door of the dining room, eager to see the results.

The bus stopped as it pulled up to the entrance of the camp, and the doors opened. The six remaining participants got off the bus.

And that was it.

Without saying anything to one another, they walked into the dining room, where they saw everyone gathered. Then they went their separate ways towards their teams, not even saying any parting words.

It was only after they reached their teams did conversations start to erupt.

"Takao, come here."

"No way! Have you seen a mirror yet? Your face is scary! And what's with that skewer?!" Takao shouted in reply as he hid behind Otsubo.

"It's my lucky item."

"Kasamatsu-senpai, how could you tell me the wrong time?" Kise whined.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

"Muro-chin, I didn't get lost."

"Well done."

"I apologise for being late." Akashi said, apologizing to the coach.

"It's fine. To begin with, it was my fault for telling you the wrong time."

"We can show you to our room. Apparently, we're sharing it with Seirin."

"Is that so?"

"So, Kuroko, how was the ride?" Riko asked, dying to know the answer.

"It was quiet."

"…Ah, why don't you put your bags down? Kagami will show you the way."

"Satsuki…"

"I'm sorry, Daiki!" Momoi said, reverting to his first name out of habit.

"Che, whatever. I'm too tired to deal with this."

As these conversations were going on, everyone in the room, besides the six new additions, were all thinking the same thing.

_The plan didn't work at all!_

* * *

After everyone had settled down, Riko and Momoi decided to execute Plan B, it had been their backup plan in case Plan A, "giving them the wrong time so they would meet at the bus stop" didn't work.

As they half-expected, they weren't very happy with the proposal.

"I absolutely refuse to be in the same team as those idiots." Midorima said, referring to a certain group of three people.

"It's not as if I want to be in the same team as you either." Aomine said, a pissed off look on his face.

Even Kuroko was frowning a little, Riko observed.

_Do they really dislike each other that much? From what I heard from Momoi, it's not as if they hate each other._

"Well, everyone had already picked their own team earlier, see?" Riko said, gesturing to the other participants. Sure enough, amongst the mixed teams in front of them, they could see Takao talking excitedly to Kasamatsu, Kiyoshi chatting cheerfully with the other Crownless Generals even as Koganei tried to make himself scarce amongst them.

"So since you're the only ones left without a proper team, then you would have to team up." Riko concluded, hoping with all her might that she would be able to convince them.

"There's six of us here anyway, so that means one of us can go to another team, right?" Aomine stated. Just as he said that, he started to walk off, only to be stopped by a voice.

"Daiki, you are to stay in this team."

Aomine whirled around when he heard this.

"Hah?"

In response to Aomine's near violent response, Akashi didn't even bat an eyelid.

"It's true that there are six of us, but Ryota is still recovering from his leg injury. I will not allow him to play for long periods of time under such circumstances. Which means, we would need six people so we can switch when needed. Besides, it seems like we do not have a choice on which team we join."

At this, Akashi turned to Riko.

"Isn't that so, Aida-san?"

"Uh…yeah, since everyone else has decided and everything." Riko answered, stuttering just a little. Seriously, even after all this time, she still found Akashi very unnerving, especially when he gazed at her with the look like he had already seen through everything.

"So, it's settled. We'll be in the same team during the camp." Akashi said and looked at each of his previous team members, as if he is daring them to protest.

They shifted uncomfortably under Akashi's gaze, but said nothing to protest against it.

And so, with Akashi's help (?), they were able to start with Plan B.

It didn't take them long to realize that Plan B is going to be a failure.

"Aomine-cchi, that ball was meant for me!"

"Who says? I was the one who caught it in the end."

"Yeah, after you intercepted me, that is!"

Everyone within earshot gave a sigh. This would be the fifth argument started ever since they started practicing with a 3 vs 3 match twenty minutes ago. Those from Kaijo raised their eyebrow, wondering how it was possible that their normally harmonious first year would be capable of participating on so many quarrels.

Momoi turned her gaze towards the group once again. Kuroko watched them from his position where he had passed the ball meant for Kise. Murasakibara yawned, not caring about the argument. Midorima turned away with a sigh, his body language making it clear that he did not want anything to do with the pair. As for Akashi…

*Whoosh thwack

Suddenly, an object flew out of nowhere, passing the air between the blond and the dark blue haired basketball player, hitting the basketball hoop frame next to them and falling to the ground. Both of them froze, staring at the skewer which had just barely missed them.

"Both of you are being embarrassing, stop it right now."

"Yes!" Kise and Aomine shouted, though Momoi suspected it was simply out of reflex, rather than any actual understanding of what was being asked.

"My skewer!" Midorima shouted, but before the bespectacled player could say anything further, he was immediately silenced by Akashi's glare.

"Sei-chan's being reaaaallly scary today." Momoi heard Kotarou whispering to Nebuya.

"Yeah, even if he's angry with us, he would never throw anything as sharp as that…." Nebuya whispered back, agreeing.

"Don't tell me he's actually more pissed about being in the same team as his ex-teammates than we thought?" Kotarou hypothesized.

Momoi turned back to the group in question as they slowly (and reluctantly) restarted their practice again. It was painful to watch, really. There was no passion, no enthusiasm. Just a heavy atmosphere that indicated that they were doing this simply because they had to.

It reminded Momoi of what it had been like during their third year in Teikou. At that thought, she shook her head vigorously, like it would chase the thought out of her head.

_Nonono, I must stay positive! It'll work out somehow!_

But by the end of their morning practice, there had been no progress at all.

* * *

It was afternoon, not long after lunch, when Riko, and Momoi, decided to execute their hastily put together Plan C.

"So we need all of you to go buy groceries."

The six boys in question stared back at the two girls.

"It's only the first day and you don't have enough food already?" Aomine asked, reluctant to run the errand.

"Well, it seems like _some_ of you eat more than we thought." Riko answered, discretely eyeing Murasakibara and Aomine. Truth be told, they did still have enough food to last them through the second and third day as well, but for the plan, they decided to bring forward the shopping schedule.

"Here's the list, now go." Riko said cheerfully and Momoi pushed them out the gate.

Without any choice, the ex-Teikou team could only run the errand.

"First putting us in the same training team, and now sending us out for groceries. Seriously, if we didn't know any better, we would think they just want us out of the way of their training camp but were too polite not to invite us." Kise commented.

"Let's just get this over and done with." Midorima said.

_A few hours later_

"Here." Kise said as he placed his load of bags on the kitchen top. The rest followed suit. It was only then Riko and Momoi noticed the huge bag that Murasakibara was carrying.

"I don't remember asking all of you to buy this much." Riko said, with a slight frown.

"They're my snacks." Murasakibara answered.

"Even then, isn't it a bit too much?" Momoi asked.

"I was stressed, so I ended up buying more."

"Oh…" Momoi answered as she looked at the group. Unlike what she hoped, she still felt a heavy atmosphere around all of them. Even Kise and Aomine, the more talkative members of the group, seemed more subdued than usual.

"If there's nothing else, then I'm going." Midorima said, before he left the kitchen, walking away quickly. Much too quickly for Momoi's liking.

"Midorin!" She shouted in indignation, but if fell on deaf ears.

"Do you still need our help, Momoi-san?" Kuroko asked, kind as ever. If it had been under normal circumstances, Momoi would have blushed, but not this time.

"No…it's fine. We can handle it from here." Momoi said awkwardly.

Once the kitchen was emptied, save for Momoi and Riko, the pink haired girl turned to Riko, close to tears.

"That didn't work too!"

"Uh, let's think of something else, okay? Something will work eventually. We still have 4 days." Riko replied.

"Yeah, okay." Momoi replied with a small sniffle.

* * *

Plan D, getting them to sit together during dinner, failed miserably as well. It had been a quiet affair. Kise, true to his personality, had tried to strike up a few conversations with either Aomine or Kuroko, but they ended quickly, and left with nothing else to say, Kise and fell silent, beaten by the heavy atmosphere. Momoi had also been confident that Akashi, with his 'maternal instincts', as she termed it, would eventually lecture Kise on being picky about food, on Aomine not eating enough vegetables, or on Kuroko on not eating enough. But there was nothing.

"There's still tomorrow. Who knows, the ones sharing a room might improve their relationship since they're stuck with each other for the evening. I already asked the others to try to have them interact as much as possible."

"I hope so…" Momoi answered, disheartened.

It was the middle of the night, when Riko and Momoi, along with Yosen's coach, who was also sharing the same room, were awoken by yells.

Riko quickly opened the door, and opposite them, the coaches, also sharing the same room, did the same. They peered down the corridor where the shouts were coming from. Judging from the shouts, it had come from the other participants of the camp.

"I think we better go check it out." Toou's coach, Katsunori, said. The rest nodded their agreement and made their way down the corridor.

What greeted them was chaos.

The doors that led to the rooms which housed their charges were all open. And as they peeked into the rooms, there were high school boys yelling and running around inside, dropping feathers everywhere while being covered in a mysterious substance.

Slowly, they started to comprehend what their students were shouting.

"What the hell is this, I can't get these damn feathers off!"

"Argh! It's in my hair too!"

"This is going to take ages to wash off!"

"Kise, I am going to kill you!"

And the shouting went on.

The coaches were about to step up and ask all of them to quiet down when they stepped on something sticky. Bending over, Masako, Yosen's coach, scrapped the substance off the floor and inspected it.

"Is this…honey?"

"Yo."

Riko turned behind her, only to see Kiyoshi, and the rest of the members in the Seirin Basketball Club, who, unlike all the other boys in the area, were spotlessly clean.

"What's…going on here?" Riko asked weakly, pointing to the impossibly chaotic scene in front of them.

"It was like this…" Hyuuga started to say.

* * *

_10 minutes earlier_

Hyuuga, just like everyone else in the room, had been in deep sleep, when he was rudely awoken by a shout.

Sitting up quickly, Hyuuga looked around him quickly, and saw that the rest of his team members were also awake, either rubbing their eyes sleepily, or looking around just like him. Feeling around for his glasses, he put them on.

It was only then did he see the scene on the other side of the room.

Kuroko and Akashi, standing in the middle of the room, holding plastic bags and some bottles. In front of them, were the members of the Rakuzan team, sputtering and coughing as they tried to get rid of the things that were on them.

It was only when one landed at his feet did Hyuuga realize they were feathers.

"What the hell was that for, Sei-chan?!" Kotarou screamed as he turned to the Kuroko and Akashi, both barely able to contain their laughter.

"It's punishment, of course. For the trick you played on us this morning." Akashi explained.

"Then why are they okay, then?!" Kotarou shouted as he pointed to the members of the Seirin team.

"Oh, it's a reward for winning the Winter Cup. And besides, we do need someone to help us clean all of this up later, so we couldn't do this on everyone." Akashi rationalised.

"Bullshit! I bet it's because both of you are too small to carry the amount to drench both schools in the first place!" Kotarou rebutted, irritated enough to forget who he was shouting at, or the consequences of what he just shouted.

"Oh really?" Akashi asked, a smile on his face.

"Kotarou, I think you better stop now." Reo advised, a restraining hand on Kotarou's shoulder.

'Spealch' The sound of that contact could be heard in the room.

"Ewww…get your hand off me!" Kotarou shouted.

"And that is how it is…" Hyuuga concluded.

"Huh? So if they have been planning this all along, then…" Riko said, but before she could finish her sentence,

"What in the world is this?! Someone better explain this to me!"

It was the owner of the camp lodge.

* * *

It had taken some explanation, but after being scolded thoroughly by the owner, the ex-Teikou students started to clean up the mess with the help of Seirin, as well as Momoi and the adults, while the other camp participants attempted to wash off their disaster.

By the time everyone was done, the sun had already risen.

"Oh my god… I'm never doing that again!" Momoi exclaimed she flopped down at the breakfast table in the dining room.

_We appreciate the sentiment, but we do not appreciate being tricked like that. I hope this will make you think twice before attempting to do that again._

Momoi sighed as she recalled what Akashi had said earlier, after all the cleaning had been done. However, as she looked at the breakfast table where Akashi and the rest of the previous members of the Teikou Basketball club were eating, a small smile came to her face.

Unlike yesterday, it was lively and noisy; just like the lunches she remembered back when they were in second year.

_In the end, it was all worth it._

* * *

**pika318: **And that's it for the one shot. If I have other ideas that relate to this high school camp, it might end up being a one shot series, but that's for the future.


	2. Apologies

**pika318: **This one shot is more like an expansion of Chapter 1, and talks about what actually happens during the one hour wait at the bus stop. Expect major out of character-ness because they will be reflecting and apologising a lot.

**Disclaimer: **Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

* * *

**Chapter 2: **Apologies

* * *

_It was going to be one long hour._

That was what Kise thought when he saw that the next bus will only be arriving in one hour. He looked at the group in front of him. Kuroko and Akashi had taken out books of some sort. Murasakibara was eating, while Midorima and Aomine seemed to be staring into space.

_What kind of atmosphere is this?_

Being the kind of energetic person who primarily likes to chat and interact, this atmosphere was really too suffocating. Suddenly, he felt himself missing his seniors from Kaijou. They may talk nonsense most of the time, but at least they were lively enough, and made things interesting.

_No, that's not it._

More than his Kaijou teammates, he missed the times he spent with this very same group of people, especially during their second year. Just like in their second year, they were now standing together, but now that he is thinking about it, the contrast between their current behaviour and their close friendship in the past contrasted so much that it actually hurt.

_Can two years really change so much?_

He found himself thinking. And as he thought about the major events since their second year until their eventual split in their third year, he realised it.

They had all been young, and stupid.

"Now that I think about it, we really did a lot of stupid things to one another."

The sentence came out before Kise could stop himself. At that, all eyes at the bus stop rested on the blond. Kise panicked slightly, simply because he never meant to say that sentence out loud.

"Ah, no, I was just thinking about things that's all. Forget what I said." Kise said hurriedly, waving his hands in front of him.

"No, actually I agree. We did do a lot of stupid things to one another."

Everyone at the bus stop turned towards the speaker, surprise on their faces.

"Aomine-cchi? Are you quite alright? Did the heat get to you or something?" Kise asked in concern.

"I'm fine, sheesh. What's with that sudden question?" Aomine answered, slightly annoyed.

"That's because it's rare of Aomine-kun to say something so…meaningful." Kuroko explained.

"It's exactly as Kuroko-cchi says." Kise agreed.

"We're all standing here, but we aren't talking, even though we would be doing just that when we were in Teikou. When I start comparing it like that, it's just strange." Aomine explained.

"Exactly!" Kise exclaimed, slightly excited that someone was thinking the same things as him.

"And after the Winter Cup, I did a lot of thinking, okay? After that, I realised that I did many selfish things back when I was in Teikou, and I would like to apologise for them." Aomine finished.

There was a pause.

Eventually, Midorima spoke.

"Oha Asa said that people with the Virgo sign will be acting strangely today. So it is true after all."

"Hey!" Aomine protested.

"Is that all you want to say?" Akashi asked, looking at Aomine with a piercing gaze, like he knew Aomine had more to say. At that question, Aomine shook his head.

"No." He said. Then he turned to Kuroko.

"I'm sorry for looking down on you during the Winter Cup. When we were in Teikou, and you were so close to giving up, I told you not to. And of all people, I should be the one who knows how hard you work and how much you want to improve, yet I said those harsh things to you during the tournament. Not just during the Winter Cup, even many of times before, I said many mean things to you, even though you tried to give me advice and all that…for all that, I'm really sorry."

Hearing this, Kuroko appeared surprised for a moment, then he gave a small smile.

"It's alright. Frankly, I never actually blamed Aomine-kun."

"I see." Aomine replied, looking relieved. Next he turned to Akashi and Midorima.

"I guess I should apologise for skipping practices last time too. It probably caused a lot of trouble. I'm sorry."

"Obviously." Midorima said, thinking back to all the times he had to chase after Aomine. That is, until the coach said that it was alright for Aomine to skip.

"It's good you decided to reflect on it, Daiki. I expect to see you working hard in Toou from now on." Akashi commented.

"Yeah, sure." Aomine said. He would apologise to Momoi later too, when he had the chance.

"If Aomine-cchi is done, I think I want to apologise too." Kise said.

"Yeah, I'm finished. Go ahead." Aomine said.

"Erhm…first, to Kuroko-cchi, I haven't apologised for accidentally hitting you during the practice match. So I'm sorry for that."

"You what?!" Aomine exclaimed. The others also looked at Kise with some degree of surprise and shock.

"It was a small injury and an accident. It wasn't anything to worry about." Kuroko explained, placating the others before they released their wrath on Kise.

"Yeah…it really was an accident, but I felt I should apologise anyway. So…am I forgiven?" Kise asked.

"Yes." Kuroko answered.

"Oh good…" Kise said, sighing in relief. "And one more thing. I want to apologise for not taking training seriously when I was in Teikou. I've been using my modelling jobs as an excuse not to go for practice. Everyone should be training together, but I ended up skipping for selfish reasons, I'm sorry." Kise added, before warily glancing at Akashi, like he was expecting a lecture for his confession.

"If I thought that it was unreasonable, I would have stopped you then. So it's really nothing to apologise for." Akashi stated.

"Hmm… if everyone's apologising, then does that mean I have to as well?" Murasakibara suddenly asked.

"Do you even have anything you feel sorry for?" Midorima asked, knowing that Murasakibara's laid back nature simply meant that he doesn't regret many of his actions.

"I guess not… if anything, I think it wasn't nice of me to bully Kuro-chin during the quarter finals. So…" Murasakibara said, then passed a packet over to Kuroko, who took it with a puzzled glance.

"A snack, as a gift." Murasakibara said.

"Ah, thank you very much." Kuroko said.

"Eh~ I want one too." Kise whined, but Murasakibara turned to him and said, "No, I'm only giving it to Kuro-chin."

Kise looked disappointed.

"Ah. I just remembered one more thing." Murasakibara said. He turned to Akashi.

"I should apologise for making Aka-chin angry too. I said that I won't listen to people weaker than me. In the end, Aka-chin was really strong."

Akashi paused for a moment, then he said, "It was wrong of me to challenge you in response too. Both of us were childish then, so it's alright."

"Here, snack." Murasakibara said, passing another packet over.

"Thanks." Akashi said, with a small smile.

A short while passed, and Midorima suddenly felt all eyes on him.

"Do you really think I'm going to play along with this?" Midorima said.

"Well, everyone's done it so far. Shouldn't you have anything to say?" Kise prompted.

"No, not particularly. I attended all the practices diligently and did my part, you know." Midorima said, reminding them to his perfect attendance.

"Really?" Kise asked.

Midorima sighed. "Seriously, if I have to say something, then…" he turned to Kuroko, saying, "I'm sorry for looking down on you when Seirin and Shuutoku first played against one another."

"In the end, we saw each other as worthy rivals, so it's fine now." Kuroko said.

"And also, to Akashi."

Akashi turned to Midorima at this, wondering what this was all about.

"Even though I was supposed to be the vice-captain of Teikou Basketball Club, I ended pushing most of the responsibility to you and did nothing even when the team itself started to drift apart. I distanced myself and let you handle everything. Considering my position, it's unacceptable. I am very sorry about that."

There was a short pause as Akashi took time to absorb everything Midorima said. Then he gave a small smile.

"Shintarou, you're always too serious."

"Huh?!" Midorima half exclaimed, not expecting that reaction.

"If I wasn't capable of handling all that, would I be the captain? Of course, as the vice-captain, you are supposed to support me, but that is it. You were not pushing anything onto me. If I needed help from you, I would have asked." Akashi explained.

"Seriously, you're as irritating as ever." Midorima said with a tsk.

"I'll take it as a compliment." Akashi answered. Then he continued, "I believe it's my turn then?"

"Eh…it's not as if we're expecting you to say anything." Aomine said. To him, to have Akashi apologise for anything was just unimaginable.

"I haven't said anything yet though." Kuroko said. Aomine and Kise turned to him in disbelief.

"Of all people, you shouldn't have anything to apologise for at all." Aomine pointed out.

"But I do actually." Kuroko said, and continued, "For one, it was irresponsible to me to disappear suddenly after the finals in our third year, which caused some people to worry unnecessarily. Secondly, I was selfish and thought of defeating all of you just to prove all of you wrong and that my style of basketball was better. I think that was really conceited of me. Everyone has their own beliefs and styles and I actually sought to trample on that. I'm sorry."

"In the end, it was your efforts which caused us to change for the better, Tetsuya. You shouldn't feel sorry for that." Akashi pointed out.

"Yeah that's right." Aomine said. "If…if Seirin had not beat To-ou then, I wouldn't have reflected at all."

"See? No one blames you at all, Kuroko-cchi. Apology accepted." Kise said.

Kuroko smiled at that.

"Then I'll say my piece." Akashi said. Everyone turned to him, wondering what he would say.

"Firstly, I shouldn't have treated all of you as pawns. Tetsuya especially. I believe in pursuit of victory, I ended up neglecting everyone's feelings."

"That's the kind of person you are though, we're used to it already." Midorima commented.

"And that's just a convenient excuse. As captain, I should have tried to keep the team together and have everyone practice together. But in the end, I ended up taking the easy way out, allowing all of you to skip practice as long as victory can be attained. My mentality was wrong at that time, and I am sorry about that."

Akashi turned to Kuroko then,

"Lastly, what happened during the finals in our third year, it was immature of me to suggest what was done during the match with Meikou High School. I know it hurt you a lot, as well as your friend. I'm really sorry about that."

Kuroko looked shocked for a moment, then he said, "Ogiwara-kun might be happy to hear you say that."

"I hope so." Akashi said.

"I think I want to apologise for that too. Even though Akashi-cchi was the one who suggested it, all of us went along with it in the end. I'm sorry too, Kuroko-cchi." Kise said.

"Yeah, I feel bad about it too, now that I think about it. Sorry." Aomine said.

"It was childish of us then." Midorima added.

"I guess I should apologise too?" Murasakibara added.

"Be more sincere about it!" Midorima scolded, causing the others to break out in smiles or laughter.

It was a while before Aomine spoke.

"You know… I actually think this is what the others want to happen here." The rest looked at him before the realisation dawned on them.

"Making us meet at the bus stop, hoping that something will happen while we're waiting for the next bus?" Kise asked.

"Exactly." Aomine said.

Midorima tsked and said, "Somehow, falling for their plan is irritating."

"I agree, as much as I appreciate their good intentions, the fact that they tricked us is unforgivable." Akashi said.

"I want to get back at them~" Murasakibara said.

At that, Akashi smiled. Everyone felt shivers going down their spine. It was the smile that he always showed when someone was going to have their life made hell.

"In that case, I have a plan."

* * *

**pika318: **And that's all for chapter 2. This is the most awkward thing I have ever written. Apologising never comes easy, then this chapter just emphasised that fact for me. I hope it's still readable for everyone. I would also like to take the chance to reply to some reviews since they reviewed as guests and I couldn't reply to them directly.

aibeloved: Thank you for the review and the suggestions. I will consider them when I think of new ideas.

Aztia: Thank you very much for the really long review for chapter 1. You recommended that I listen to the Drama CDs and read the novels as well as look at the PSP game. I have already been doing all this. I buy the manga and the novels in Chinese (and even translated some novel stories). I also know about the translations on the PSP game, so I do know about all the information you have mentioned. Nevertheless, I am really moved at the effort you put in to write that review, and I will keep all your tips in mind. If you're reading this, from your review, I actually get the vibe that there is something you don't like about my first chapter, which is why you recommended all this material to me. May I actually know what it is, if any? I would really appreciate the feedback.


	3. Consequences

**pika318: **Frankly, I actually wrote this one shot about six weeks ago, but could not decide if I should publish this or not. Since the first chapter is primarily humour and a bit of heart-warming and the second chapter is mostly heart-warming and about patching up, I'm going with a more depressing theme this time. It can be seen as a sequel to "Moving On". (Yes, for those who asked for a sequel in your reviews for Moving On, this would be my version of a sequel).

**Disclaimer: **Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

**Chapter 3:** Consequences

* * *

No one thought anything was out of the ordinary when Akashi Seijuuro checked his phone, then got out of his seat at the dining table and left the cafeteria before he even touched one bite of his dinner. Everyone had assumed he simply needed to attend a call.

However, when he did not return even after dinner had ended, that was when everyone, especially the ones sharing the same table, his former teammates at Teikou, and his current Regulars at Rakuzan, started to worry.

"Akashi-cchi is really late, isn't he?" Kise commented.

"It's really not like Akashi-kun to miss his meal." Momoi agreed.

"I think we should look for Aka-chin, maybe he got lost." Murasakibara suggested, even as he was eating his after meal snack.

"Akashi isn't like you." Midorima rebutted, then added, "But we should look for him. This is rather unusual behaviour."

As the former Teikou group were discussing about this, those in the Rakuzan team had already stood up, planning to execute the "Let's find our captain" plan.

Since there had been nothing immediate planned after dinner, somehow everyone had been roped in to some extent, and everyone started looking for the redhead.

* * *

When they did find him, they were greeted with the most shocking scene in their lives, something that they wouldn't forget for a while.

The ones that found him first were the Teikou group, thanks to Kuroko's good instincts. They had wandered off to a really secluded corner in the camp, which had only been isolated since the gate to this particular section of the camp had been covered by ivy.

There, they found their ex-captain lying on the ground, struggling to breathe as he winced in pain.

The reason for it was the boot that was harshly pressed onto his chest by a middle aged man.

Momoi was the one who exclaimed first.

"Akashi-kun!"

Akashi, hearing the cry, turned his head slightly in their direction, but the boot only applied more pressure and he gasped in pain.

"Why you!" Aomine shouted, and he rushed forward, his hand made into a fist. Murasakibara appeared to do the same.

But just as Aomine was about to make contact with the middle aged man,

"Daiki...Atsushi...stop."

Aomine and Murasakibara paused, then turned to Akashi in disbelief. The middle aged man removed his boot, allowing Akashi to recover his breathing and sit up slightly.

"Why did you ask me to stop, damn it! This bastard here is hurting you!" Aomine shouted.

"Daiki, this 'bastard', as you put it, happens to be my father."

"What?" Aomine said in surprise and the shocked faces on the other people present mirrored his feelings as well. The only one who remained expressionless was Kuroko.

That was when the middle aged man spoke,

"I see you have at least been able to retain some control over the uncultured people you like to call your teammates, Seijuuro."

Akashi said nothing, but Aomine only flared up.

"Uncultured?! I demand you take that back!"

"And why should I? Your behaviour right now is simply unacceptable. And I would like to let you know that if you even laid a finger on me, I could easily sue your family bankrupt. You should be thankful that my son stopped you when he had."

"Grr…" Aomine growled.

"Daiki." Akashi said in warning, and Aomine could only stay silent.

"Now, like I said before Seijuuro, I am not that cruel of a father. Since this is only a club activity, I will let you off only with this. But if anything happens to your academics, things will not be so simple."

And without even waiting for any reply, Akashi's father simply turned and walked towards the gate. For a while, Kise and Midorima contemplated the idea of blocking his way and not allowing him to leave, but with one look from Akashi, they stepped aside, allowing their captain's 'attacker' to walk free.

It was only when Akashi's father was no longer anywhere to be seen when Akashi finally relaxed, which also meant collapsing back onto the ground.

"Akashi-kun!" Momoi ran up worriedly as the rest also gathered around their fallen ex-captain.

"I don't think Akashi-kun can breathe properly." Kuroko analysed calmly, though everyone can see the slight tinge of worry on his face. It was true, already, they could see Akashi slowly losing consciousness.

"We need to call an ambulance!" Momoi exclaimed and just as she was about to pull out her cellphone, Kuroko stopped her.

"No, we can't."

"Why not?!" This time it was Kise who shouted.

"Because Akashi-kun wouldn't want it." Then before anyone could argue any further, Kuroko reached into Akashi's pockets, pulling out a red flip phone. Opening it, he appeared to scroll down a list of contacts until he finally dialed a number and put the phone to his ear. After a while,

"Hello, is this Tanaka-sensei?"

Somehow, everyone had become quiet, and so they could hear the other party's voice quite clearly.

"Hmm? You're not Young Master, are you? Who is this?"

"It's Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Ah! Tetsuya-sama! It's been quite a while, how has Madam been doing?"

"She's doing well. Listen, Akashi-kun is hurt."

"Young, young Master is hurt?" They could clearly hear the panic in his voice. Kuroko continued to speak,

"I need you to come to Sunrise Holiday Camp now, I will message you the address. Please come quick."

"Yes, of course."

With that, he hung up the phone, and after appearing to send a message, turned to Murasakibara.

"Murasakibara-kun, I need you to get Akashi-kun an empty room. Ask the owner to find one."

Murasakibara, who had been stunned by just what had happened just like the rest, could only nod and do as he was told.

* * *

When the former students of Teikou finally made sure Akashi was comfortable, Kuroko stayed in the room to watch over him. The rest took turns watching the entrance of the camp so they would be able to guide the doctor in when he arrived.

At the same time, the other participants of the camp had also received the news. Naturally, it wasn't taken very well.

"Sei-chan was attacked and you just let the attacker go?!" Kotarou shouted. Being at the receiving end of the shout, Kise only winced.

"Well...that's because…" Kise started to say, then he shut up. Kuroko had given them express instructions not to tell anyone else that the attacker had been Akashi's own father.

"It's because his movements were too unpredictable and we couldn't catch him." Midorima supplied, covering up Kise's near slip up.

"Grrr...if I see that attacker at all, I'm gonna give it to him!" Kotatou said.

_If only you knew who you're actually dealing with._

Midorima thought with a sigh.

* * *

_I heard about what happened at the finals of your tournament._

_I'm sorry._

_*Slap_

'_Sorry' doesn't fix everything, Seijuuro. I do not remember raising such an incompetent son. In fact, I do not remember saying that you could join such a peasant sport in the first place. _

_It is not a peasant sport._

_*Thump_

_It seems like I have not taught you well enough. You are turning ungrateful. Perhaps you need some re-education?_

Akashi got up suddenly, and immediately regretted it when a dizzy spell suddenly hit him. He held a hand to his head.

"Akashi-kun, you should lie down."

Turning to the voice, Akashi saw a pair of concerned blue orbs staring back at him.

"Tetsuya."

"You should lie down." Kuroko repeated.

Akashi laid back into the futon.

"Tanaka-sensei has been here already. He told me to make sure you get sufficient rest, on top of getting your injuries treated, of course."

"You stopped them from calling an ambulance?" Akashi asked. Honestly, he had fully expected to end up in a hospital.

"Yes, it is what you wanted, right?" Kuroko asked.

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry."

Not expecting that kind of reply, Akashi stared at Kuroko, puzzled. Kuroko continued to speak,

"If we hadn't won during the Winter Cup, then you wouldn't have to suffer." Kuroko said, his voice small.

"You're being an idiot. There is nothing wrong about winning. If you're always worried about the losing side, you will end up impeding your progress." Akashi said with a scoff.

"But…"

"You're too kind, Tetsuya. It has always been your weak point." Akashi said.

Silence fell between them. Akashi continued, with a warm smile on his face,

"But it's also what makes you so endearing."

* * *

When Akashi was finally well enough to receive visitors, the only ones that were allowed into the room where his former Teikou teammates, and his current Rakuzan teammates. The rest were barred, simply because 'they are not involved', as Akashi put it.

"Sei-chan, are you alright?" Reo asked. The Generation of Miracles and Momoi shuddered, simply because they could not comprehend how anyone could call Akashi 'Sei-chan' and get away with it.

"I will be fine soon."

"Why we aren't calling the police? Isn't this assault?" Kotarou asked. Akashi looked at Kotarou, then turned to his former teammates.

"I told them not to tell your Rakuzan teammates who the assailant was." Kuroko supplied.

"Ah. But since they asked, it won't hurt to tell them. Promise me you won't tell anyone what you heard today." Akashi said to his three seniors.

"Of course." The three of them replied.

"The one who 'attacked' me was my father."

"Wha-"

"Now before you assume anything, it wasn't without reason." Akashi continued, shutting them up.

"It wasn't without reason, but it was certainly unreasonable, Akashi-kun." Kuroko pointed out.

"We will get to that later, Tetsuya." Akashi said, and continued his explanation.

"My father's philosophy is to excel in everything, and to be top in everything. Which also means, he doesn't tolerate losing."

After hearing that, Reo's eyes widened, like he had just comprehended something.

"He did this to you because we…"

"Because I lost in the Winter Cup, yes."

"That's just unreasonable!" Momoi exclaimed.

"To any outsiders, yes, it is unreasonable."

"Then why are you making it sound as if it is the most natural thing in the world?" Midorima said, obviously irritated.

"If you have been raised in this kind of environment since you were young, would you question it? And if you look at it another way, there are always parents who push and pressure their child into getting good results, or master a music instrument, amongst other things. Aren't your parents like that too, Shintarou?"

"Well, yes." Midorima agreed, grudgingly.

"My father is simply a slightly more extreme version of that."

"It's still abuse no matter how I look at it. You need to tell the police about this." Nebuya said gruffly.

"It's no use."

Everyone in the room gaped. Very rarely, no, this is the first time they have ever seen Akashi acting anywhere near defeatist.

Akashi continued to speak,

"My father is an influential person, if he wants the police to keep silent, they will. And no one can do anything about that."

"That's…" Reo started to say, but he was interrupted by Akashi.

"But enough of that, now that I have explained myself, I know what all of you are thinking, so I am making things clear now." Akashi turned to his Rakuzan team.

"I do not want to see any of you overworking yourselves beyond your limits. It is bad for your health and physical development. Understand?"

The Rakuzan team looked guilty at having their thoughts read so easily. But eventually agreed.

Then he turned to his former Teikou teammates.

"As for the rest of you, if I detect that any of you, or your teams, are going easy on my team in any way, I will make sure you regret it, because I obviously did not train all of you to be half hearted weaklings."

"Isn't there any other way we can help you?" Momoi asked.

"I will settle my own family problems by myself." Akashi replied.

"We'll always be here if you need someone to talk to." Kuroko offered.

"Of course." Akashi said, smiling a little. Everyone visibly relaxed when they saw this.

"Now, go back to your training."

Everyone paused, then slowly stood up and made their way to the door. Everyone except Kuroko.

"Tetsuya, you should go back to your training as well."

"Will you be alright by yourself?" Kuroko asked.

"Yes, now go."

Eventually, the light blue haired boy stood up and followed the rest out, giving Akashi one last glance before closing the door.

Finally left alone, Akashi opened up his phone, only to see a message from his servant, Mika.

'Master told us not to let you into the residence in Tokyo until he says otherwise. Did something happen?'

'It's nothing much, but if you really want to know, read the basketball magazines.'

After typing out the reply and sending it, Akashi closed his phone and leaned back with sigh,

HIs father had at least been kind enough to still allow him into the branch house in Kyoto. It was a nice place, the house itself was smaller than the Tokyo residence, but including the stables, it had a larger compound. He could even spend more time with his horse.

His vision starts to blur and he hastily wiped the tears away before they could fall.

After all, if he had time to cry, he would be better off using the time to devise ways to claim back his throne.

* * *

**pika318: **And that's it. Feel free to leave your comments because I'm curious to hear what you guys think about this. Is this even remotely possible or am I stretching the Canon boundaries too much? Is Akashi too OOC here or not? Things like that. Actually, these are the two questions which stopped me from publishing this, but Moko-chan (my sister) really liked it, so I'm taking chances here.


	4. Breakfast

**pika318: **Like the title suggests, this one shot is about what happens during breakfast. I like writing GOM interaction, and I have to admit that the PSP game was the major inspiration for this because Akashi can be such a "mother" type. I thought it would be interesting.

**Disclaimer: **Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

* * *

**Chapter 4: **Breakfast

* * *

Kuroko frowned slightly as he stared at the breakfast in his hands, passed to him by a smiling Aida Riko. The amount on the tray was alarming, especially the rice. It was easily twice the height of the bowl.

"Coach, I really can't finish all of this." Kuroko said, his voice uneasy.

"You have to try anyway, Kuroko-kun." Riko answered, a smile still on her face.

"But…" Kuroko started to protest weakly, but it seemed like Riko wasn't going to budge at all.

Suddenly, the breakfast tray was taken out of his hands, and with one quick movement, half of the rice was returned into the rice cooker. Kuroko and Riko turned towards the newcomer, who had already returned the tray to its owner.

"Akashi-kun." Kuroko said, surprised by the sudden appearance of his former teammate. Riko's reaction, however, was not as mild.

"What did you do that for?" Riko asked, clearly unhappy.

"Tetsuya cannot finish this much." Akashi stated, challenging Riko's decision.

"I am expecting him to try." Riko said.

"Then I suggest you make your goals more realistic." Akashi said calmly.

A moment passed where both of them stared at each other, while Kuroko looked uneasily between the two parties. Everyone around them was starting to back up a bit, as if they were trying to avoid some invisible sparks.

Eventually, Akashi spoke.

"I will make sure Tetsuya finishes everything that he has right now."

Riko seemed to think for a while, as if she was weighing the pros and cons. Finally, she replied,

"Fine. Make sure he finishes everything on that tray."

"Of course, Aida-san." Akashi said, and he turned to Kuroko with a smile.

"Let's go eat. The rest are waiting already." Sure enough, the other members of the team they were allocated to during the camp were already at the table, starting on their own food.

"Ah, okay." Kuroko answered, following Akashi to the table.

"For a while, I thought a war was going to break out there." Izuki commented, as Mitobe nodded in earnest.

"Has Sei-chan always been this…protective?" Kotarou asked, turning to his other Rakuzan teammates.

"Not that I know of." Nebuya answered with a shrug of his shoulders, acting like it didn't concern him at all.

Reo remained silent, watching with interest as Akashi and Kuroko walked towards the table where the Generation of Miracles were seated.

* * *

"Ryota, if you're going to talk, do it after the meal. You'll get indigestion at this rate." Akashi said, giving a stern look to the blond.

"Yes…" Kise muttered, and resumed eating his meal quietly.

"Hmm…five minutes. That's a new record. I guess being away from them for a long time decreased Akashi-kun's tolerance." Momoi commented from a nearby table.

"What?" Riko asked from beside Momoi. As the only female students, the two of them choose to eat their meals together.

"Oh, I'm just wondering how long it would take for Akashi-kun to lecture one of them while they're eating their meals together. It always happened in Teikou after all." Momoi answered.

"Always happened?" Riko repeated, finding it hard to believe. The person who threatened to gorge his own eyes out if Rakuzan lost after helping the opposing team score a basket and, from what she heard from Furihata, attacked people with scissors always lectured his teammates on their eating habits? That sounded almost…motherly. Riko shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah, Akashi-kun is very particular about it. See, it's happening again." Momoi said.

Riko's line of sight shifted to the table as Akashi spoke,

"Daiki, I expect you to finish your vegetables. It's not healthy if you don't eat a balanced meal."

Riko heard Aomine grumbled a little, then eventually, he picked up the vegetables with his chopsticks and ate them.

"They really listen to him, huh?" Riko commented.

"Of course, Akashi would just give them 'the look' until they do. You have to admit that his stare is rather unnerving." Momoi answered.

"Yeah, I get what you mean." Riko agreed.

The next fifteen minutes passed in peace. By that time, Murasakibara had already finished second helping and seemed to be looking for more food. However, it was clear that the area where the food was being served was already empty, since quite a number of people there had big appetites. Disappointed, he turned to the people at his table. Out of all of them, only Kuroko's tray was nowhere close to empty. The rest of them were mostly done with their meal.

Weighing his options, Murasakibara turned to Kuroko.

"Kuro-chin, can I take some of your food~" he asked.

Kuroko didn't actually say anything, but he was certainly looking at his tray with a troubled look on his face. Murasakibara took that as consent.

"Then I'll be taking some~" Murasakibara said cheerfully as he stretched his hand across the table.

*thwack

With the sudden pain shooting up his arm, Murasakibara withdrew his hand immediately to nurse his new 'injury'.

"Atsushi, you will not touch Tetsuya's food." Akashi stated, still holding his chopsticks, the source of Murasakibara's 'injury'.

"But I'm still hungry…" Murasakibara whined.

"If you want more food, you're better off asking Kagami Taiga. Look at the amount he has." Akashi replied. At Akashi's reply, Murasakibara looked over to where Kagami was sitting with Himuro. Sure enough, he said had an ample amount of food left.

Without saying anything else, Murasakibara stood up and walked over to where Kagami sat, intent on his quest. The rest at the table seemed to watch Murasakibara, as if they wanted to know if Murasakibara would win any food back.

"Tetsuya, using misdirection to divert your food somewhere else won't work. What makes you think I'm not watching you?" Akashi suddenly said. Kuroko paused in the middle of his actions.

"Ugh…" Kuroko sighed at being caught, and continued to pick at his food, eating it slowly.

"That's a new one. I've never seen Akashi-kun use chopsticks to hit anyone before." Momoi commented again.

"You're…enjoying this, aren't you?" Riko asked, finally realizing the reason behind Momoi's behaviour.

"Of course, don't you think it's entertaining to watch?" Momoi said cheerfully.

"Erhm…" Riko said, refusing to answer that question.

_My god, it's like she's obsessed with them. _

Riko thought.

* * *

Soon, breakfast ended peacefully enough, save for Kagami shouting at Murasakibara for taking his food. Their argument was solved once Himuro stepped in.

Like Akashi promised, he really made sure Kuroko finished everything. Riko had to admit that she was impressed. No one else had managed to do such a thing. The side effect was that Kuroko seemed to have lost all motivation to move afterwards. After everyone else had left the eating area for a short break and some personal time before the morning training began, only Akashi and Kuroko were left in the room.

"Good job in finishing everything." Akashi said, a hint of amusement in his voice as he saw Kuroko slumped in his chair.

"Remind me why you always have to do this." Kuroko groaned.

"Do what?" Akashi asked, his mouth twitched upward slightly into a smile.

"Making sure I finish all my food." Kuroko elaborated.

"You don't eat enough. If I don't make sure you eat properly, you won't develop well due to nutritional deficiency." Akashi answered.

"Ugh...I forgot how this was like since you haven't done this since our second year."

Certainly, up till their second year in Teikou, Akashi insisted on eating with Kuroko whenever he could so he could make sure the blue haired boy finished everything. It was one of the experiences Kuroko dreaded the most, as much as he treasured the time he spent with the red haired captain.

"Well, you remember it now, don't you?" Akashi said. Kuroko swore Akashi was just teasing him now.

A few minutes passed in silence before Kuroko finally felt like he could move again. As if on cue, Akashi spoke,

"Do you think you can join the others now?"

"Yes, I think so." Kuroko replied.

"Let's go then." Akashi said.

The two of them left the eating area together.

Unbeknownst to the two people in the room, someone had been watching their actions and listening to their conversation from behind a nearby window. As the two of them left, so did this mystery person.

* * *

**pika318: **Okay, that's it for this chapter! It's short, but in my mind, there really isn't too much to write about the GOM's interactions during breakfast anyway. Hope all of you enjoyed it! As for the 'mystery person', I'll leave it to your imaginations as to who it is.

Aztia: Thanks for another nice review! As for how Kuroko and Akashi are related. I did touch on it in my other one shot 'Moving On'. You can assume that Kuroko knows all this because of what is mentioned in that one shot.


	5. Curiosity

**pika318: **The identity of the mysterious person mentioned in the previous chapter will be revealed this chapter. That's all I'm saying for now.

**Disclaimer: **Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

* * *

**Chapter 5: **Curiosity

* * *

"Kazu-chan."

Takao shifted uncomfortably at the overly familiar way he was being addressed. As much as he liked to attach a 'chan' suffix to people he liked, such as Shin-chan, being addressed like that, and being on first name terms, by someone he barely talked to is just weird.

"I would like it if you stopped calling me that." Takao said tersely, but the target of his words seemed to ignore him completely, choosing to continue with what he meant to say.

"Don't you think that there's something between Sei-chan and his ex-teammate, that phantom player?"

It took a while for Takao to process that 'Sei-chan' actually referred to a certain Akashi Seijuuro. From what he heard about Akashi from Midorima, sometimes he wondered how the person in front of him got away with that nickname, was it because he is the senior? But getting back to the question, Takao couldn't understand why this person even thought he was the best person to answer the question.

"Mibuchi-san, I don't think I'm the best person to answer that question." Takao answered.

"I wouldn't be sure about that. You're an observant person, and I have a good eye for people." Reo answered, something close to a smirk on his face, which almost made Takao run in the opposite direction. This guy was creepy, he was doubly sure of that now.

Reo continued talking, oblivious to, or maybe ignoring, the obvious discomfort that Takao was showing.

"Now you're probably wondering why I even asked the question in the first place. Well, the thing is, I thought there was deeper about the relationship between Sei-chan and Tetsu-chan, so I've been watching them for a while."

_You stalker! _

Takao thought to himself, but did not say it out loud, for his own good.

"And the thing is, the more I watched them interact, it just feels like… they're not really friends."

"Huh?" Takao said. From what he could see from the interactions between the Generation of Miracles so far during the camp and what he gathered from Midorima, the relationship between Akashi and Kuroko seemed good enough. It wasn't possible that they were not friends.

Seeing the confusion on Takao's face, Reo added, "I don't mean that their relationship is bad. It's good, almost too good, in fact. I feel that their relationship goes a bit deeper than that. In fact, according to my senses, they could even be…"

Before Reo could finish his sentence, a bell rang, signalling the end of their lunch. Takao stood up quickly and excused himself, not wanting to be in the presence of Reo any longer. Reo pouted, but let him go anyway. As the day went on, Takao made a conscious effort to avoid the Rakuzan player, and with the various activities for the rest of the day, the conversation that afternoon was pushed to the back of his mind.

* * *

It was the middle of the night. Normally, Takao would have been asleep, but right now he was walking through the outside corridors of the inn after having to answer nature's call.

_Whose idea was it to house the washrooms in a separate part of the building?_

Takao cursed as he walked quickly, one reason being that he wanted to go back to sleep as soon as possible and another was because it was simply scary to be walking around empty corridors in the middle of the night.

Takao gave a small sigh of relief as the building wing which contained the bedrooms came into sight, and sped up the pace of his walking. But suddenly, he heard something, like voices. There were people talking just around the corner in front of him. And if his memory served him right, there was only a small yard, which separated the two wings of the building, around that corner. No one should have any business being there at this time of the night.

_Don't tell me there really are spirits here?!_

Holding his breath, Takao slowly approached the corner. No matter what he felt, he still needed to get back to the bedroom. But first, he needed to know what was around the corner so he could deal with it. Giving a quick prayer, he expanded his field of sight to see what he needed.

And subsequently let out his breath.

Unlike what he had feared, there weren't any spirits, or even any buglers. There were two people there, and they were people he knew, being participants in the camp.

_So it's only Rakuzan's captain and Seirin's phantom player._

As soon as Takao thought that, a different set of alarm bells rang in his mind. What business did they have talking out here this late at night anyway? They were in the same team and even shared the same room, there shouldn't be any need to meet out here.

_Unless they're talking about something they didn't want anyone else to hear._

His mind answered.

Takao inched closer before he was even aware of what he was doing. Surely he had no business to know what they were talking about, but just like many times before, his curiosity got the better of him. Slowly, some parts of their conversation drifted into his ears.

"If you want, you could move to my house."

Takao identified the voice as belonging to Kuroko. And seeing that there was no one else at the scene, he could only be talking to Akashi.

_Living together? What?_

Takao thought. Suddenly, he was reminded of his older sister telling him that she was considering the possibility of sharing an apartment with her boyfriend. But this can't be the case here, could it?

"Tetsuya, you know as well as me that there are too many legal issues involved. If we aren't even supposed to see each other, how are we supposed to live together?" Akashi answered, and Takao could tell that he sounded a little frustrated. "Besides, even if there weren't any legal issues involved, my father would never agree to it." Akashi added.

"I guess that's true." Kuroko said, disappointment clear in his voice.

"Thank you for asking anyway, Tetsuya." Akashi said.

"Do you think you feel well enough to go back now, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked.

"Yes, let's go back." Akashi replied.

Both of them had got up and walked away, their footsteps fading in the distance. Even he could no longer hear their footsteps, Takao released a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

_What was that about? Living together, legal issues, not supposed to see each other…_

Takao's mind was in a mess. And suddenly, the conversation from that afternoon popped into his mind.

'According to my senses, they could even be…'

The sudden realisation nearly made Takao blush with embarrassment. Did he just overhear what was a conversation between two lov…

Takao coughed to himself, willing the thought out of mind. It was not his business, and he just happened to hear that accidentally. He will go back to his room now, sleep it off, and forget about it.

* * *

It was the next morning. In the end, Takao only partially did some of the things he decided last night. He did go back to his room, and he did sleep somewhat, but he did not, or rather, could not, forget about what he witnessed last night. It had affected his behaviour such that he alternated between staring at the pair and after realising what he was doing, tried his hardest to avoid being anywhere near them.

His strange behaviour didn't escape Reo's notice. Over breakfast, Reo said to him almost gleefully,

"So, did you find out something about them? With how you're acting, I just know you did~"

Takao hastily excused himself and left the dining area. There was no way he would be able to last through the whole camp like this. He needed advice, and fast. Once he made sure he was alone, he took out his phone and called a number. The person on the other end picked up after a few rings.

"Hello, Kazu-chan, what is it?" The voice of his older sister came over the phone.

"What do you think of two guys being together?" Takao blurted out, dispensing with all his telephone manners.

There was a pause over the phone and Takao wondered if his sister had fainted from his sudden question.

"Hello?" He said tentatively, and almost immediately, his sister replied,

"Oh my godddd! Are you talking about you and that Midorima guy you're always talking about?!" His sister close to squealed. Takao felt faint.

"No! I'm talking about two other people!" Takao shouted. He quickly lowered his volume after that, fearing someone might overhear.

"It's about two other guys in this camp I'm at okay? I just happened to hear them talk about…those stuff, and well, it's bothering me so much I'm acting way too strangely around them. I need advice on how to deal with it before they start to question my behaviour."

"Ah… is that so?" His sister answered, not even bothering to hide the disappointment in her voice. Takao rolled his eyes. His sister continued,

"Well, you know Kazu-chan, does gender really matter that much as long as the two people love each other? They're just like any ordinary couple out there. As long as you remember that, you'll be fine."

"Okay?" Takao said.

"It'll take some time to get used to, but seeing that you're an easy going little brother, it shouldn't be any trouble for you. If it helps, you could talk to someone else about it."

"Which is why I called you." Takao said.

"True, but I mean someone else in that camp of yours. Someone you can trust in keeping the secret. It would be best if that person knows the two people you're talking about. Who knows, if you could find that kind of person, he might already know about those two people being together and talk you out of your current state."

"Right. I'll consider it. Thanks for the advice." Takao said.

"Anything for you, Kazu-chan. Now you better go back to your camp before people start missing you. Bye." His sister said before hanging up the phone.

Hearing the dial tone, Takao kept his phone. Already his mind was going through a list of people, and before long, it settled on one person.

Takao sighed. It was going to be difficult, but he had to try anyway.

* * *

When Midorima saw Takao approaching him, he thought that the other boy was only trying to strike up yet another random conversation with him, like he always did. Which made him totally unprepared for what he was asked.

"Shin-chan, how do you feel about two guys in a relationship?"

It took him a while to comprehend the question, and when he finally found his voice,

"Takao, I am not having this conversation."

For a while, Takao didn't say anything at all, and when Midorima was fully prepared to walk away, Takao suddenly said,

"Shin-chan, I wasn't talking about you and me, if that's what you're thinking."

"Like hell I was thinking about something like that!" Midorima shouted.

"Shh-! Do you want the rest of those people to hear what we're talking about?" Takao hushed him hurriedly and dragged him, lucky item and all, some distance away to get more privacy, which earned them stares from the people nearby.

"Takao, what is this about?" Midorima huffed once Takao stopped walking. If it wasn't anything important, he was going to walk away, whether Takao liked it or not.

"It's about your ex-teammates, Akashi and Kuroko." Takao said. Midorima raised an eyebrow, but there wasn't enough information for him to make a judgement.

"What about them?" Midorima asked, wondering if he was going to regret asking.

"Errr…I don't really know how to say this, and I don't really know if you know about it already, but…" Takao fumbled around for a while, and the next phrase was said so softly that Midorima had to lean in a little just to hear it.

"are they in a relationship?" Takao finally said.

*plop

Takao watched Midorima's lucky item, a lucky cat pushie, roll along the ground.

_Luckily it's not a fragile item._

Takao randomly thought.

"What?" Midorima asked through gritted teeth such as it almost sounded like a hiss. Takao wondered if he had somehow pressed the wrong buttons or if Midorima had gone into shock.

"Like I said, are the two of them in a relationship?" Takao repeated his question.

"And what exactly do you mean by 'in a relationship'?" Midorima asked. Granted, he knew exactly what 'in a relationship' meant, but he had to make sure Takao was in the same page, or hopefully, on a wrong page altogether.

Takao gaped like a fish. Then he said, "Shin-chan, do you really need me to define that?! I meant, do the two of them actually…actually like each other!" Takao said, his pitch going up an octave at having to spell things out so clearly.

Midorima massaged his temples, then replied, "Takao, what the hell would make you think that Akashi and Kuroko are in a relationship?"

"Well, I…" Takao started to say when both of them heard an audible *clack.

Having a bad feeling, Midorima turned around just to see Momoi standing there in shock, a clipboard at her feet. That would explain the sound, but the more pressing matter would be how the manager looked like she was about to cry. Almost immediately, Midorima thought back to the contents of their conversation.

"Momoi, it's not what you…" Midorima said, but he was quickly interrupted.

"Tetsu-kun-!" Momoi wailed as she ran towards where Midorima knew the rest of his current team would be.

Slowly, he turned to Takao, who seemed frozen to the spot.

"I am not taking responsibility for this." Midorima said.

"Huh? What?" Takao said.

"If you don't chase after her now, she's going to find those two. And when that happens, I'm not going to help you." Midorima stated, bending over to pick up his lucky item.

Takao's eyes widened as he realised the repercussions and rushed to catch up with the pink haired girl. Midorima sighed as the point guard disappeared in the distance. After slowly counting to ten, he walked briskly to where Momoi would be headed.

* * *

Takao ran after Momoi, determined to catch her before she said anything wrong. But just as he was just about to be within shouting distance, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, forcing him to halt in his tracks since he didn't want a collision.

"Oh~ I just heard something really interesting."

It was Reo, and honestly, Takao wasn't in the mood to talk to him right now.

"You stalker!" Takao finally shouted, not really caring about the consequences of finally saying it. Behind Reo, he could see Momoi closing in on her intended target. He dodged past Reo, accompanied by a shout of "It's all your fault!"

Reo watched as Takao chased after Momoi, then with a leisurely shrug of his shoulders, he strolled after the pair, convinced that he would see a good show.

* * *

Akashi was watching his team play against the team made up of Seirin players, with the exception of Himuro Tatsuya when the basketball bounced out of bounds, and rolled right at Akashi's feet. He bent over to pick it up and as he straightened, Kuroko was there, waiting to receive the ball. Akashi had just passed the ball to Kuroko when Momoi suddenly ran up to them, or more specifically, Kuroko. She looked between Kuroko and him before turning to Kuroko, shouting.

"Is it true?!"

Understandably, Kuroko was confused, and it showed on his face. He asked Momoi, who is clearly flustered.

"Is what true, Momoi-san?"

"Is it true that you and Akashi-kun are in a relationship?!" Momoi finally asked, blushing furiously.

_Nooo! I'm too late!_

Takao screamed mentally as he was greeted by a totally silent basketball court except for the sounds of a basketball bouncing and rolling to the middle of the court.

Eventually, Aomine was the one to break the silence.

"Satsuki, what?" He asked, his tone full of disbelief at the absurdness of the whole situation. Kise just looked between Momoi, Kuroko and Akashi, total confusion on his face.

"Huh? A relationship? Aren't they friends?" Murasakibara asked innocently.

"Murasakibara, shut up now." Midorima said, having just arrived at the court himself.

"I never thought I would see this outside of America." Himuro commented as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

"Yeah, I guess?" Kagami agreed uncertainly.

"Both of you be quiet." Hyuuga said.

With the question finally out of her mouth, Momoi seemed to be reduced to a stammering mess.

"I mean, if it's true, then I, I-"

"Satsuki." Akashi said.

"Ye—yes!" Momoi squeaked.

Akashi could feel a headache coming on. He massaged his temples lightly, then asked,

"What made you think and Tetsuya and I are…in a relationship?"

"I heard it from Takao-kun…" Momoi said sadly.

Just as everyone directed their sights to Takao, he decided that it was a really good time to speak up.

"Look, I'm sure it's a misunderstanding, okay? I, I can explain!" Takao said hurriedly.

"Then explain yourself now, Takao Kazunari." Akashi said, in a tone which made Takao gulp with nervousness.

"Er… the thing is I heard both of you talking last night, and the conversation you had was really erhm… misleading." Takao started to explain, and soon he was talking about the whole conversation he heard, with Kuroko's offer to live together, certain legal issues and other things. When he finally finished, there was another bout of silence as everyone absorbed Takao's explanation. Soon, all eyes were on Akashi and Kuroko.

"So you were eavesdropping." Akashi stated.

"No! Of course not! I just happened to overhear, and that's slightly different from eavesdropping." Takao protested against the accusation.

"I can see how Takao-san would have misunderstood our conversation, Akashi-kun. After all, when taken out of context, it is rather…misleading." Kuroko commented, finally recovering his composure.

Akashi sighed visibly. When he talked to Kuroko that night, he had not expected that things would end up like this, and denying that they had that conversation would only make things worse. It looked like the only course of action now would be to tell the truth, or at least part of it. He glanced towards Kuroko and he could tell at the light blue haired boy had also reached the same conclusion. The fact that he hadn't said anything meant that he was alright with having their relationship explained, so Akashi started to explain.

"It's true that we have a relationship, but it's not the type that you are thinking about."

"Then what's with all that talk about living together with Tetsu-chan?" Reo asked. He had been watching the whole scene unfold, and now he was just too curious to hold back his questions.

"Tetsuya was referring to my mother's house. The 'we' in that conversation was referring to me and my mother, not me and Tetsuya."

"Akashi's parents are divorced." Midorima added when he saw the uncomprehending looks on everyone else's faces. That was when people started to understand, which only led to more questions.

"But Tetsu-kun said 'my house'…" Momoi said.

"That's because Tetsuya is living with my mother."

"Why is Kuroko-cchi living with Akashi-cchi's mother then?"

Kuroko was the one who answered.

"That's because Akashi-kun's mother is my aunt."

"Wait…so that means the both of you are cousins?" Kagami spoke, purely out of reflex at being told this new fact.

The other members of the Generation of Miracles stared at Akashi and Kuroko, stunned.

"Why didn't we know about this?" Kise asked.

"Because there was no need to inform any of you about such a thing." Akashi answered.

"Then why is Tetsu living with your mother in the first place, how about his pa-" Aomine started to ask when he was cut off by Akashi's stern stare.

"Is it any of your business to know?" Akashi asked, and Aomine fell silent immediately.

"I'm really really sorry for misunderstanding!" Takao apologised.

"I'll forgive you this time since you just 'happened to overhear', but do it again, and I wouldn't be so nice." Akashi said. Honestly, he wasn't in the mood to deal with anything else right now.

"You know, Sei-chan, you should tell us more about yourself, then we can avoid things like this." Reo suggested, causing Akashi to roll his eyes. Then almost immediately, he addressed everyone who had gathered because of the scene.

"Don't all of you have better things to do? Or would any of you prefer to run laps around the camping grounds instead?" He asked, obviously threatening them.

Everyone who was at the court scattered, temporarily forgetting that Akashi didn't actually have authoritative control over everyone present.

"You're lucky you're not dead." Midorima said as Takao passed by him to go back to his own team.

"Yeah, I know-" Takao whined. "I'll definitely be more careful next time."

"If you value your life, you better be." Midorima answered and returned back to his team.

"So should be go back to where we left off?" Kise asked, and soon everyone was back to playing against one another. Kuroko joined them again later, leaving Akashi to his own thoughts.

Akashi went through the events of today and yesterday, and more he thought about it, he found more connections and at the end, he reached his final conclusion.

The next morning, Akashi didn't bother to hide a smirk when one table away, Reo coughed softly before reaching for his milk to quell the fire in his throat.

* * *

**pika318: **And that's all for this chapter! I hope it's been entertaining for everyone. I'm not trying to promote any pairings at all. This is just for humour. I laughed a lot while thinking about this, so I hope it's the same for everyone while reading this. As for the last part, Akashi figured out that Reo had been stalking him and Kuroko so he decided to get back at Reo for it. So yes, Reo was the stalker from the previous chapter.


End file.
